


it takes two

by windsweep



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:14:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28579551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/windsweep/pseuds/windsweep
Summary: Two senior members of the Greil Mercenaries dressed to attend a lovely soiree. The ease of their movement together stands testament to an enduring partnership. They appear in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Relationships: Tiamat | Titania & Shinon (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

> kiran uses he and she pronouns, so the alternation between the two isn't an inconsistency or typo. with that out of the way...
> 
> ooooh intelligent systems you want to put a titania & shinon duo hero in feh so bad you want to do it so bad

The Aether Resort’s dining hall is… _nice_ , if Shinon wants to be charitable in describing it, which is a very rare occasion indeed, so usually he settles for simply _decent_. The food is typically edible, although to what degree is variable since it’s run entirely by volunteers. It’s not an unclean place. His main complaint about it is that it is so small, able to accommodate twelve people inside at most, and maybe two more outside if they thought to set up a small table. It’s too much company and too close and all for food that is mediocre most of the time, so despite the fact that it’s in a convenient location to visit after a daily skirmish in the sky, he rarely takes advantage of this fact.

Today is one of those rarities, though, because he had neglected to eat a proper breakfast that morning, a fact that is really biting him in the ass right now as he feels the pangs of his empty stomach urge him toward the little building. The decorative chimes hanging around the door are mostly still, because there is no wind today, but they clang against each other as he opens the door, disturbing them.

Inside, Rolf’s attention snaps to him the way a dog perks up at a sudden noise. He stands behind the counter, watching Shinon approach and take a seat in front of him. “Ooh, Uncle Shinon, what’re you doing here?” No, wait, that could sound bad. He clarifies, “I mean, you almost never go here.”

“Oh, you know,” Shinon answers, briefly scratching an itch at the back of his neck. “I was in the neighbourhood. Just came down from the Aether Keep and all.”

“Is it scary?” Rolf asks, bouncing in place. “Being so high up in the air like that?”

It is frankly an unsettling experience to travel so far above the solid ground below, where the air is so thin that mere mortals like himself survive only under the protection of the gods among them. Not only that, but each battlefield is littered with strange tiles on the ground, some harmless, others able to electrocute trespassers in a wide area, and it’s impossible to tell which one is which type until one steps on them, which makes one feel like a rat in a maze. And… he swears he sees a collection of mostly the same faces each time his group head out there. What is it called, when someone has so many dozens of twins? Perhaps more importantly, why the hell do they all have it out for him? “Not at all.”

Wow! There is no doubt in Rolf’s mind that he would be _very_ scared to fight under such conditions, accompanied by gods or no. And here Shinon says that the height doesn’t bother him. Rolf’s eyes shine as he regards his mentor in wonder. Let the record show that Shinon is the coolest person ever to live, and at least a bajillion times cooler than the other four people on the top five list combined.

Shinon wants to change the subject. “So they got you working here, huh?”

“I guess so,” Rolf answers, “I volunteered for today ‘cause Mia wanted the help. You want me to get you some water?”

“ _Mia’s_ cooking?” Shinon didn’t know she did that, or anything besides being a sword-wielding hooligan, for that matter. He’d certainly prefer it if Oscar were in charge, but then since everyone loves Oscar’s cooking it follows that he would want a break sometimes. In any case, water is fine by him, for it is too late in the day for coffee, and Rolf goes to pour him a tall glass and returns to bring it back to him.

“Uh-huh, it’s a type of curry. Chicken and vegetables and rice and red sauce… Rinkah was here earlier and she liked it a lot.” So much so that he had regretted to inform her that their fine establishment had recently changed their policy to disallow third and fourth servings in order to ensure that everyone gets to eat. “I haven’t had any yet, but it looks good to me.”

Shinon doesn’t know who this Rinkah individual is, but Rolf isn’t one to lie. Or rather, he’s a terrible liar, so if they were really serving slop today, it would be easy for Shinon to tell. Still, Mia hadn’t taken up cooking duty back home as far as he knows, so he can’t be too sure of the quality. “Hm. Maybe just a small plate. I ain’t that hungry.”

Rolf nods twice in acknowledgement before he walks inside the kitchen to prepare his plate, and although Shinon had expressed that he only felt a bit peckish, Rolf piles a little extra on there, because he figures it is a nice thing to do. When he brings the food back out again, Shinon smells it before he sees it, but the sight of the red sauce is quite striking. Right off the bat, Mia gets some points for presentation; if it tastes bad, it certainly doesn’t look the part. Maybe she really had made something edible.

“ _Bon appétit_ ,” sings Rolf as he lowers the plate onto the counter. 

“What?”

Rolf pulls a slight frown. “...Enjoy your lunch, Uncle Shinon.”

Shinon had never thought about what it might be like to swallow fire before, but he would say he has a good idea now. Rolf looks on worriedly as Shinon almost chokes in surprise, but he manages to grab at his glass before he does. Mia happens to step out of the kitchen in time to see him down the water as though he’d recently been stranded in a desert.

“You’re the one responsible for this.” Shinon turns his glare over to Mia.

“Yessir, I am!” Mia answers with a broad smile, her chest puffed out in pride. 

“Could you make this any spicier?”

“Uh, well... that’d be hard,” Mia admits, suddenly bashful. “I already dumped a lot of spices in there.”

“You’re supposed to ration those!” Shinon pinches the bridge of his nose. Damnable girl, forcing him to eat this knowing that he’s opposed to wasting food on principle. And not only that, but using up so much of their precious spice supply in the process! He’s not coming here anymore if there’s only going to be bland food for the next while, he resolves.

“Oh, but Rinkah said—” Mia started to push back, but then… 

The chimes outside sound their delicate melody as Titania opens the door and walks inside, causing them both to turn their attention to her for the moment. Her face alights when she spots Shinon hunched over his plate, elbows planted on the counter, his frown taken to his face as naturally as a fish to water. “Shinon! It’s rare for me to catch you during a lunch break these days.” She perches herself on the chair next to his. “Mind if I join you?”

“You’re my witness in case Mia’s cooking kills me,” he replies, which, coming from Shinon, is roughly equivalent to _Sure, I’d love to have lunch with you_. Titania doesn’t miss the look Mia shoots him for saying that, although he seems to be unbothered by it.

“Oh, don’t be that way. I’m sure Mia made a fine curry.” Although the aroma wafting from it is… perhaps a little overpowering. Nonetheless, Titania flashes her a quick smile, which Mia mirrors almost instantly. “I’ll certainly be having some.”

With that, Mia walks back inside the kitchen, leaving the two friends alone but for Rolf attending his guests. He thinks it prudent to bring Titania _two_ large glasses of water, to her silent confusion, and ends up walking to and fro again when Shinon asks for a refill and an extra glass for himself.

“Kiran’s working you hard lately, isn’t she?” Titania remarks. “You’ve been awfully difficult to get a hold of almost since the day you came here.”

Shinon scoffs out a laugh. “You don’t know the half of it!” It’s like there’s something new almost every day. Groups of new heroes arrive about twice monthly, but some of them want to be bested in combat before they even think about joining the Order of Heroes, and who better to send in than Shinon? Sometimes, Kiran wants to get personally acquainted with the new arrivals, but it happens that the group are always beset by enemies in the process, and who better to guard them than Shinon? About monthly, there’s some kind of disturbance, some _tempest_ , in the fabric of reality, and who better to fight such a stubborn foe than an equally stubborn man (Shinon?) And then most recently there’s the matter of going up into the sky to fight battles on deathtrap battlefields five times every other week, which he is clearly believed to be uniquely equipped to do. “He’s working me like a goddamn ox. If I get tasked with any more _important duties_ , I’m gonna…”

“Fly off the handle?” Titania offers.

“An acrobatic _pirouette_ , at this point,” he corrects.

“Hmm…” Titania hums amusedly. “You know, the people here are very fond of dancing.” That sounds right to Shinon; he’s practically got his own troupe following him around half the time Kiran sends him out to fight. Where is she going with this, though? “In fact, I got invited to a party just the other day, and I’ve been looking for a plus-one.” 

“That’s nice.” What does this have to do with him?

Titania shakes her head. “Please don’t be dense, Shinon. I’m inviting you to go with me.”

“That’s—” Shinon starts, but he’s interrupted when Rolf walks back up to the counter holding Titania’s plate.

“ _Bon appétit!_ ” he says, setting the dish down in front of her.

“ _Merci_ , Rolf.” Titania answers, to the boy’s delight. “What was it you were saying, Shinon?”

“I was _saying_ , that’s a ridiculous idea. I don’t even know _how_ to dance, firstly, and secondly, what would I wanna make merry all night with a buncha strange people for?”

“And what were you going to do next weekend instead?” It’s only natural that the others are strange to him, Titania thinks, when _he_ is so strange to _them_! Funny how he mentions ridiculous ideas when he persists in his recluse and yet complains that he doesn’t know who anyone is.

Shinon shrugs. His weekends, at least the parts of them he can remember, _have_ been uneventful lately, not that he’d prove her point for her by admitting as much. “Dunno. Stay in and... relax, I guess.”

“That’s what you do _every_ weekend,” Titania sighs. “You’ve made yourself incredibly scarce lately. It’s kind of frightening.”

“She’s right!” Rolf chimes in. “It’s like if you’re not working or training then you’re always in your room.” 

“Ain’t you got a job that needs doing?” Shinon points out. Rolf pouts in response but nonetheless goes back to wiping the counter top, away from them. Shinon turns his attention back to Titania. “You’re worried about me, so now you’re ordering me to partake in some gay merriment with you, is that it?”

“No…” says Titania. “It’d defeat the purpose of merriment for it to be an _order_ , wouldn’t it?”

“ _Defeat the purpose!_ ” Shinon repeats, wheezing out a sarcastic laugh. He is the only person she knows who manages to express amusement and irritation at the same time so often and so deftly. “Of course!”

“Look, all I’m saying is that it couldn’t hurt to try something new at least once. You’re doing yourself a disservice locking yourself up this way! And… I’m almost certain you don’t need this pointed out, but I want to make sure: it doesn’t make any sense to decide that all however-many-hundreds of people here aren’t worth your time when you’ve hardly so much as seen them.” Titania pauses here to eat a spoonful of curry while it’s still warm, but after she swallows it she blows a puff of air— _Hoo, that’s_ **_hot_** _…_ — and quickly downs some water. She tries to ignore the _I-told-you-so_ look on Shinon’s face. “Besides… it isn’t very difficult to learn some basic steps; I could easily teach you. And if you _really_ end up hating it, I’ll leave you to your cave. Ex-knight’s honour.”

Does a former knight still have enough honour to swear on? “Hold on. I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Shinon reminds her. “Let’s just flip a coin about it. But y’know... I’ve been getting this feeling that I’m gonna get really sick next week, and I’ve been looking for a volunteer to cover me. So if I win...”

“ _Really!_ ” He is so shameless, and what’s worse, so brazen in his shamelessness.

“Call it a hunch.” Shinon tries to say it flatly, but regardless of his effort his voice betrays the fact that he thinks he’s hilarious. “Those’re my terms. I trust you won’t try asking for best two-out-of-three when you lose.” 

“So you’ll leave your weekend plans up to God, then.” That he seems to be humouring her suggestion at all should be counted as a small miracle in itself, though, she thinks. Honestly. Sometimes Titania feels as though she could sooner command the tides than convince Shinon of anything.

“If you wanna put it that way…” Shinon fishes through his pockets for a coin, though these few moments of rummaging around produce nothing. Instead, he waves Rolf back over to their side of the counter, who reaches into his own pocket and loans him one. “Make your call.”

“Heads,” she answers confidently. Of course she would; Titania always calls heads no matter what. She had explained that quirk of hers to him once, some years ago. Something about the consistency of her answer making her feel more likely that she’d win. He isn’t sure why he bothered asking.

Nonetheless, it’s tails for him, then. Shinon launches the polished piece of silver up into the air, and after it tumbles back down entraps it with his other hand.

Titania’s expression brightens when Shinon reveals the outcome.


	2. ii.

_Shinon,_

_Come meet me at the dance studio at 2:00 today and we’ll practise some steps._

_Titania_

“Ooh, you’re gonna dance with the Captain?” Gatrie holds the note close to his face. He had snatched it from the castle’s messenger owl, assuming, for some reason Shinon couldn’t guess, that it had been for him. The two are seated in one of the castle’s small kitchen-slash-dining rooms, but their plates are mostly barren by now. The window next to Gatrie, left wide ajar in order to let the bird in moments prior, allows a chilly draft to seep inside, raising goosebumps on Shinon’s arms. “Sounds fun! I didn’t know that kinda thing interested you, though.”

“Gimme that.” Shinon reaches for his mail from across the table, but Gatrie keeps it just out of his grasp, grinning as though toying with a cat. Once the glare in Shinon’s eyes starts looking a little too scary, though, he easily yields the letter, which Shinon grabs at with such ferocity that Gatrie is surprised it doesn’t rip right then. Shinon glances over it. “It doesn't. But I got myself roped into going to some party with her next week. And shut the window. It’s freezing.”

“Oh yeah, Princess Sharena is hosting that one. I think. I’m pretty sure,” Gatrie doesn’t think it’s really that cold out, but he chooses to oblige Shinon’s command nonetheless. He is slow in reaching for the top of the window to slide it down for fear of scaring poor little Feh. The owl is accustomed to people, however, so instead of taking flight, she hops down from the windowsill onto the side of their table. Shinon thinks this is just perfect; now it can go take a shit here while they’re still eating! “Y’know, I bet it’s because the year is ending real soon.”

“New Year’s Eve ain’t for another two weeks.” Shinon folds and pockets the paper. The creature is wearing some kind of pouch likely meant to store paper and some writing implement. He figures it’d be a good idea to draft up a short reply. When he reaches for the thing, though, it shies away from his every grasp, and Gatrie ends up having to get the supplies for him. “What’s she gonna do on the actual day of? Throw _another_ party?”

“Maybe she’s expecting next year to be a big one…?” Gatrie weakly offers. Truthfully, he doesn’t know the Princess or the past year’s events very well because of the fact that he and Shinon had only arrived to Askr some three months ago. He imagines Shinon is even more clueless on the matter than he is, though. For once. “Anyway… you two should have a great time. I’m a pretty clumsy dancer, but I’m sure you’ll get it right no problem. Just, y’know, watch your feet and all.”

The corners of Shinon’s mouth threaten to curl into a smirk. What is it that he finds so amusing? The blunt way Gatrie delivers such obvious advice as if he’s being helpful, maybe. Or maybe it’s the mental image of Gatrie’s dance partners getting fed up with being trampled on. Both. No, definitely more so the latter. He takes a glance at the room’s clock. It’s nearing noon already, which he wouldn’t have guessed from the dull sunlight outside, muted through the filter of the grey clouds above. “Yeah, well. She got so excited she didn’t think to include directions to where I’m supposed to meet her at. Pushy, much?”

Gatrie picks up the last of the generous slice of bread he had helped himself to earlier. It may no longer be warm, but it’s no less delicious. He can’t keep a smile off his face as he says between chews, “She probably just misses you.”

“What’re you talking about?” If that’s the case, why couldn’t she just come out and say as much? Shinon pushes his plate aside to make room on the table to write on. Writing up the note takes only a quick second, and soon he’s folding up the paper for Gatrie to send the bug-eyed beast out to deliver. Messenger _owls_. Is there any reason they can’t use pigeons, like normal people?

“Well, think about it from her perspective. She says she’s been here a long time. By now, it’s probably been years since the last time she saw you. And you two go way back, right?” They had been coworkers for some time before Gatrie came along, at least. He recalls having felt almost like an intruder at first, caught listening to them take turns chastising each other for their recklessness. To this day, that feeling resurfaces sometimes when one of the two tries to reminisce with the other about a memory from before he had met them. “But you’ve been acting like a stranger, and that must really hurt. You’re so mean, Shinon.”

“Because I’ve had so much time to spare lately!” Shinon snaps. It’s only now, in the final few weeks of the year, that he gets the chance to breathe a little.

“Er— Sorry,” Gatrie says sheepishly. “I know you’ve been overworked; I didn’t mean…”

Shinon stands up, pushing his chair back. “Whatever. You know where this place is?”

“Yeah, I’ve been around there before. I’ll take you after I finish cleaning up here.” Gatrie collects their plates, stacking them, as he rises from his chair. “Say… are you gonna bake more bread next time?”

“Go find someone else to mooch off of already,” Shinon says, as he does every time Gatrie asks this question. 

Gatrie is already looking forward to their next brunch.

* * *

_Captain,_

_I’ll be there._

_Shinon_

_P.S: Don’t get mad if I step on your feet._

Titania keeps the window open to let the breeze in, brisk and fresh, as she awaits his arrival. Up on the first floor, she watches the path below as a bird observes its surroundings from atop a branch, but she doesn’t see many people walking down there. The trees that had proudly displayed bold red leaves a mere few weeks ago stand barren now, their branches grey, at rest for the winter.

Askran winters are a little dreary, she supposes, though she thinks them pretty comparable to winter back home in Crimea. Many days see overcast skies, some of them threatening to give way to rain, and on especially bad days the wind would hungrily bite at anyone foolish enough to go outside without proper protection against the cold. The main difference between them is that while Askr can expect snow yearly, snowfall had been an uncommon occurrence in their area of Crimea, much to the children’s frequent disappointment, as each year they had all wanted to build snowmen for the season.

“It’s colder than hell in here,” Shinon grumbles from the other side of the room. “Are you gonna shut that?”

Titania startles at the sound of his voice, swiftly turning herself around to face him. She sees that he’s gotten himself bundled up for the weather, but… really, it’s unseasonably warm today, if anything. She hopes he never has to visit Nifl; Askran winter may as well be summer in comparison. “Shinon! You should know better than to sneak up on me.”

“Sneak up on _nothing_!” he counters. “You’ve been lost in your own little world for the past five minutes. The cold must be getting to you.”

“Oh, please.” Titania reaches up to shut the window while Shinon puts one of his coats up on the coat tree near the door. “In winter, it’s the cold. In the springtime, it’s the pollen—” _And the bugs!_ “And the bugs. And I don’t need to be an oracle to know what you’re going to say to me come summer: _Captain, it’s hotter than hell out here._ ”

“Well, we only get around two months of good weather a year.” He doesn’t _complain_ about the weather so much as tell the truth about how shitty it is. If only the first two months of autumn could be extended to the entire year... “But we didn’t come here to discuss the weather. We’re gonna waltz or something?”

“A waltz… No, I was going to take you through some tango steps, actually.” Titania steps away from the window and walks toward the right side of the room. “This’ll probably work better if you take the other side of the room.”

And so he walks up to stand across from her, leaving ample space between them for now at her instruction.

“So, the most important thing is to remember to keep your knees bent the entire time,” she says, demonstrating the proper stance herself, and he copies her. “I’ll be taking the lead position, at least for now, since I have more experience than you. As the follow, you’re going to move opposite to me. So when I start by stepping forward with my left foot, you’ll be stepping back with your right.”

It goes on like that for a few repetitions. Her left, his right, her right, his left, her left again, his right again, sideways to her right, sideways to his left, and finally each end by dragging in their other foot. There are a few corrections to be made along the way— _Longer steps than that_ and _You forgot to keep your knees bent, there_ — but as promised, the steps aren’t difficult to learn.

**“** So this is what you’ve been getting up to the past couple years, huh,” Shinon says after completing the third or fourth cycle of this. 

“You may not believe me when I say it’s fun, but it is. It’s just that the fun part doesn’t come in until you put everything you’ve learnt into motion. Have patience.” Titania crosses the distance between them halfway. “If you think you’ve got it down pat, we can start practising moving in tandem.”

Shinon remains still; why did she do that? The two can only stare at each other blankly as each tries to figure out what’s going on in the other’s head. The silence hangs heavy in the air, and Titania eventually decides to step up and be the one to cast it aside.

“...You’re going to need to come closer so that I can hold you,” she says, finally. His expression reminds her of that of a cat who had just accidentally fallen into water. He’d object to the comparison, though. “Unless you’re waiting for an invitation, in which case…” She mimics that posh accent that the nobles back home are known for— and by some, mocked for— and extends her arm toward him. “ _May I have this dance?_ ”

“Quit that…” Shinon grumbles. Despite his annoyance, it’s nice to know that her years spent in Askr haven’t done anything to change her habit of teasing him. There’s a comfort in being able to predict what someone’s going to do. He takes her hand in his and she leads him forward, afterward placing her other hand flat against his back. She holds him steady in this firm embrace, and he feels a little like a ragdoll in another’s grasp being prepared for manoeuvre. 

“Shinon…” she says suddenly. “You’re a little tense. Is it something I’ve done?”

“...Just ain’t used to this kind of thing. I’m fine.”

Hm. “In that case, the rhythm of this dance goes something like...”

Slow, slow, quick-quick, slow… Slow, slow, quick-quick, slow… That pattern has them travelling across the room, leading and following, movements ebbing and flowing. It occurs to him now why she was so insistent on dancing with him: at the heart of it, it’s really just an elaborate display of teamwork, and in that case, it only makes sense that she’d choose one of her oldest partners for the task. How very… sentimental. Their practise goes on, and as he gets past some of the initial awkwardness of learning to synchronise movement with someone else, he finds that he could even begin to think of the repetition as relaxing.

She has the two gradually pick up the pace from here. The real thing usually goes faster than how they’ve been doing it so far, she explains, and the new pace is manageable at first, but soon Shinon finds himself having a difficult time keeping up without fumbling over his own feet or getting tangled in hers, and in the end she slows them down again. They try it again one more time now.

Right foot takes a step back, and… “Is summer around these parts really that bad?”

The step of her right foot prompts him to continue moving backwards, and then… “Well, _I_ find it pleasant, but I know that you won’t. It’s a little hotter than what you’re used to.”

Stepping sideways, he… “Oh, God...”

“It’s not so bad. We like to take trips out to the beach when it gets too hot.” She brings their dance to a stop and lets go of him, prompting a break at last. Each takes a seat on the floor along the walls. “I even took Mist to go crabbing with me last year. We were cooking for hours for how many crabs we managed to bring in. It was a lot of fun, so I hope you’ll consider going with us next year.”

“I’ll think about it,” come his reply, and that seems good enough for her. He’s not blowing her off, though, not exactly. In fact, he thinks it’s reasonably likely that he’s going to make good on following through with this idea when the season rolls around again: he certainly won’t refuse crab dinner, and he could do much worse for company than those two. Perhaps if they wanted to go on a windy day…

Titania pushes herself off the floor and stands to walk over and holds out her hand once again, but he waves it off and picks himself up instead. “I’ve had my fill of dance practice for today.”

For today… “So you’ll want to practise more later, then.”

“Maybe.” he says, walking toward the door, stopping momentarily to retrieve and put on the coat he had left behind earlier. “We’ll see.”

Little is predictable about Shinon besides the generally safe expectation that his behaviour will be fey, so the fact that he indeed meets her for another lesson the next day despite his noncommittal answer only comes as a mild surprise. 


	3. iii.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> want to stop here to give a quick shoutout to the people who read, left kudos, and commented on my fics last year :) i've heard from some kind people here and felt very welcomed, and although i don't allow anonymous comments, i appreciate guest kudos nonetheless... thank you :)

“I look stupid in this thing.” The suit is foreign on Shinon’s skin, making him feel like an actor dressed to play the role of a man attending a soiree. He stands in Titania’s doorway, waiting for her to finish preparing herself.

“You don’t.” she replies simply, pausing to apply some perfume on herself. Shinon doesn’t know much of anything about fashion, so he can’t speak to the style of her dress, but it’s certainly a rare sight for her to wear black. Jarring, even, when he associates her most strongly with the polished white armour she wears when she heads out to battle. Presently perfumed as per her preference, she walks out to meet him. “Cherche loaned you a very nice suit. I might’ve even worn it myself, if it’d have fit me.”

Shinon feels short walking alongside Titania down the castle hall toward the ballroom; she’s not wearing heels, though, oh no. This is their natural height difference. He notices a few people walking ahead of them as they approach the open doors, including a woman with long blue hair practically tugging at the hand of her companion, who somehow manages to look stone-faced and flustered at the same time.

Titania follows his gaze and smiles faintly when she spots Tana and Marisa walking together. For one, Tana’s excitement is infectious, and secondly: Marisa definitely isn’t the sociable type, so she must be trying something new tonight. Even so, she can’t marvel for too long. It is, after all, rude to gawk at someone who’s already self-conscious.

The room is lively, so full with the noise of chatter that Titania can only make bits and pieces out of a nearby conversation. _Well, I heard that… Think… heard wrong… I’m not lying to you, I swear on my…_ The rest of this interesting gossip is covered by the other voices and also by the musicians across the room, hard at working providing music for the dancers.

“Wouldn’t you say we’re late for this little shindig?” Shinon asks, his eyes scanning the room, taking it all in. This is easily the most people he’s seen all gathered in one place in a long time. _How_ many people are supposed to be in the Order of Heroes, again?

“Yes, a little, but you would’ve gotten bored waiting for it to come into full swing,” she says as a matter of fact. The oncoming lull in the music grabs at her attention and seems to interrupt whatever thought she originally had. “Oh! They’re going to start another dance soon. We ought to hurry.”

Her strong pull leads them forward until she suddenly stops to let go of his hand and turn back around to face him. “Wait. I’d forgotten.”

Was there something wrong? Why’d they stop here in the middle of the room? “Forgotten what?”

“Well, it’s a formal event, so the occasion calls for me to _formally_ invite you to dance.” she says, a ghost of a grin on her face as if this is another one of her little games, but her eyes convey a different emotion that he can’t parse.

This is stupid. “That’s not—”

She offers him her hand. “Shall we dance, old friend?”

Shinon feels… as one does when faced with the reminder that someone else considers them worth caring about for some reason, even after three years of separation during which she met any number of people that could’ve made for easier and better company than him and took part in conflicts he’ll only ever know through her personal accounts. It’s an unfamiliar, even uncomfortable, sensation that builds and threatens to tear through his throat, agitated yet vulnerable like a wounded animal desperate to escape a sprung trap, until he manages to swallow it down. This… is probably precisely why neither of them are usually so openly sentimental. Raw emotion is treacherous territory for the both of them.

He can only be grateful that she hadn’t been conscious to witness his grand and frankly embarrassing display of sentimentality some years ago: just one year for him, and probably more like four for her. He hadn’t slept that night, pacing about the hallway in front of the room Rhys had made an impromptu infirmary out of in order to tend to Titania’s gastly, potentially fatal wound. The constant movement hadn’t _helped_ , but standing still had been unbearable in comparison, not to mention impossible given the circumstances. Their new “acquaintance” had quickly learnt better than to try to talk him down, and had been too busy to keep trying it besides, but Gatrie hadn’t gotten the memo, and all the while had kept trying to make small talk with him. That fool! As if Shinon had been in the mood to shoot the shit when his f… coworker. _Associate_. Had been in very real danger of meeting an untimely death.

Only with the benefit of hindsight had he realised that perhaps Gatrie had been trying to help him in the only way that had occurred to him at the time.

He takes her hand, and chooses not to comment on the expression of… an unidentified emotion— Surprise? Relief?— that she wears for a split second as he does. Once again, she leads him forward, and the two manage to get into position moments before the musicians begin anew.

“Don’t forget,” she says as the dance begins, “If I look like I’m going to bump into something, give me a tap on the shoulder.”

But he doesn’t usually have trouble watching her back, and tonight is no exception. Together they travel smoothly across the floor as though carried along a gently flowing current, the upbeat music taking the air all about them as the buzz of the summer cicadas did back in Crimea. Through the songs they walk, turn, lead, and follow… even occasionally exchanging roles, only to go back to their original positions for the next dance. 

Shinon had only intended on sharing a few dances with her, but as the night wears on he begins to grapple with the distinct possibility that Titania is more than prepared to dance until the musicians are forced to retire for the night. Perhaps even after that. Coin flip or no, ballroom etiquette or no, and… the fact that Titania looks happier— real, _genuine_ happiness, mind, not that pastiche of memories of happiness she’d usually put on display for the public— tonight than he’s probably ever seen her since the night Greil was murdered or no… he’s not much of a party person. He has to stop this before his legs give out from under him.

“Enough already.” Shinon keeps his weary feet planted firmly on the ground, his legs unyielding despite the fact that Titania had just been in the middle of initiating yet another dance. “You’re like a woman possessed! I can’t keep up with you.”

Titania releases him at once. Had they really been dancing for so long already? “Ah— right, then. I didn’t mean to tucker you out. My apologies.”

“Didn’t _mean_ to!” Shinon parrots in disbelief. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d get the idea that you were a dancer who just happens to know how to fight, not the other way around! Come sit and nurse a drink with me, or grab some of those fancy little sandwiches, or anything to give it a rest!” He holds his gaze on her a few moments longer before he turns and shoves off, interrupting a couple’s dance in the process. 

“Asshole!” Lethe calls after him, her ears pulled back flat. She ceases her agitated tail-swishing only when Jill pulls the two back into position. Titania mutters a quick apology to the two as she takes off after him before she loses him in the crowd.

But she’s not quite quick enough, and it must be minutes of wading through the forest of partygoers before she spots him again, sitting alone at a table with a glass bottle and two empty wine glasses. He looks up as he notices her draw closer.

“Took you long enough,” he says. “I was about to get started without you.”

Titania settles herself on the chair across from him. “Well, I appreciate your show of restraint. I see you picked us up some wine?”

“Next time, I’m not gonna wait for you.” He picks up the already-open bottle and positions it over one of the cups. “Tell me when.”

It’s odd when she thinks about it. In the many years the two have known each other, Titania has never known Shinon to seek out a drink of wine of his own volition. She herself had liked to indulge from time to time, and he’d ask her for a glass on such occasions if he had caught her in the act, sure, but it was plain to her that the two had very different taste in alcohol. She watches the glass fill deep red until it’s about three-fourths full. “When.”

He fills his own glass only about halfway and lifts it from the bottom along the palm of his hand. What did Gatrie say this party was about, again? “To a new year, then, huh?”

“Hmm, it’s a little early for that, isn’t it?” Still, she raises her glass in kind. Could he be anticipating a big year ahead? Truth be told, so is she after tonight: yes, her first full year of being reunited with some dearly missed old friends should certainly be worth looking forward to. She moves her glass to clink against his, completing the toast. “To a new year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you can probably tell, i'd intended to post this for new year's, but i dragged my feet a little in finishing this up... do me a big favour and pretend new year's is still relevant. i'll get us started: happy 2021, everyone :)
> 
> EDIT 10/2/21: this fic has [an illustration](https://citriccenobite.tumblr.com/post/643690656020185088/ko-fi-request-for-nervousbroad-what-if-these-two) thanks to my great friend grey. thank you grey! you rule so hard :-)


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